Feeding apparatus

ABSTRACT

Feeding apparatus for loading or ramming tubes or the like on a mandrel, said apparatus having a driven chain, belt or the like with at least one rotatable finger mounted thereon, a cam surface adapted to rotate the finger in one direction in order to position the finger to remove a tube from a carrier and place it over a mandrel, and resilient biasing means adapted to cause said finger to rotate in another direction in order to fall away from the tube after it has been placed upon the mandrel.

Unite States Patent Holovnia et al. 1 5] Jan. 23, 1973 [54] FEEDINGAPPARATUS 2,714,441 8/1955 N011 ..19s 170 I 3,292,772 12/1966 Rice........l98/204 [75] lnventos' Jseph vme 3,367,472 2/l968 R0551 ..l98/22Rakauskas, both of Shrewsbury, Mass- Primary ExaminerRichard E. Aegerter73 Assignee; Dennison M f tu i Company, Attorney-Sewall P. Bronstein,Joh'n Woodberry,

pramingham, Mass. Robert T. Gammons, Donald Brown, Robert L. Goldbergand Robert F. OConnell [22] Filed: April 21, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 135,8441 ABSTRACT Feeding apparatus for loading or ramming tubes or the 52 US.Cl. ..l98/20R 198/170 like a mandrel Said apparatus having a drive" [51]Int Cl B65g 4'7/00 6 19/00 chain, belt or the like with at least onerotatable finger [58] Fig-Id fig 446 1 198/20 mounted thereon, a camsurface adapted to rotate the 6 2 22 finger in one direction in order toposition the finger to remove a tube from a carrier and place it over amandrel, and resilient biasing means adapted to cause [56] ReferencesCited said finger to rotate in another direction in order to UNITEDSTATES PATENTS fall away from the tube after it has been placed upon themandrel. 2,187,026 l/l940 Hamochek ..l98/l70 2,669,342 2/1954 Neal..l98/l70 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FEEDING APPARATUS FIELD OF THEINVENTION This invention is related to an apparatus or machine forloading a carrier with tubes or the like held by a conveyor at a veryrapidv rate. The carrier is then BACKGROUND OFTl-IE INVENTION Heattransfer labeling systems have'come into wide use over the past fewyears. Essentially, such systems I include a conveyor for feeding meansto be labeled, means for transferring the means to be labeled to aturret for positioning the said means to be labeled one at a time at alabeling station, a feed mechanism for transporting labels supported ona backing strip to the labeling station, and means for pressing thelabel against the means to be labeled to transfer a label thereto. Suchsystems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,981,432, 3,036,624, 3,064,714,3,208,897, 3,231,448, 3,313,667, and 3,261,734. Label bearing strips forthe above system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,862,832.

The systems mentioned above have also come into use for labeling vialsortubes. To accomplish the above the turret comprises a carrier having aplurality of mandrels for receiving the vials or tubes. In the past thevials were gravity dropped onto the mandrels and in the case of thetubes, they were rolled down a chute and then forced on horizontalmandrels by a reciprocating air cylinder.

Both of the, above transfer schemes were slow and thus considerablyreduced the number of items which could be labeled in a given timeperiod. This greatly reduced the operating efficiency of the decoratingsystem and made it'less advantageous than other labeling schemes.

Accordingly, it became apparent that a new transfer scheme was necessaryin order to speed up the transfer of vials, tubes or the like onto amandrel of a carrier or turret.

In this apparatus, higher speed is accomplished by the movement of aramming device in a nonreciprocating and undirectional manner which ispreferably synchronous with the positioning of the tube for forcing overthe mandrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a newand improved ramming apparatus for forcing and feeding tubes or the likeonto a mandrel positioned on a carrier or decora-.

tor at a rate much greater than that of the prior art. In this inventiontubes are supported such that the ramming apparatus may initially engagethe tube, then force the tube over the mandrel and then move away fromthe tube after the tube is securely placed over the mandrel. In thepreferred construction of this invention, the rammer apparatus comprisestwo chains running in parallel on vertically mounted sprockets. Rammingfingers are mounted on pins between the BRIEF DESCRIFTION OF THEDRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view showing the general layout of theinvention as part of a label applying system;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view taken along line. 2

2 of FIG. 1;'

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view showing the position of one of the fingers afterplacing a tube onto a mandrel; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference should now be had toFIGS. 1-5 for a description of the invention. At 10 in the drawing thereis shown one type of conveyor which is adapted to be used with theramming apparatus of this invention. The conveyor comprises a pluralityof substantially U shaped cradles 11 supported by a cable or belt orchain 13 driven by means (not shown) in a conventional manner. Thecradles are constructed to carry tubes 12 or'the like in an uprightposition between cradle prongs 11a and .1 lb. The tubes are held uprightby the friction fitof the tubes between the prongs with the open bottomof the tube extending downwardly and the position of the tube to becapped extending upwardly as shown in FIG. 4.

"At 20 in the drawing there is shown -a turret or carrier having aplurality of mandrels or rods 21 extending upwardly near thecircumference thereof. The mandrels 21 are shaped to receive tubes 12about them and accordingly their exact shape will vary with tubeconfiguration. The mandrels of this invention are preferably providedwith central tubing or passages (not shown) for the passage of air toremove the tubes 12 after a label has been applied thereto.

After labeling the tubes 12 are moved to and positioned below a chute 25and a burst of air is applied through the mandrel to blast the tubes 12into the chute in the direction shown by arrow 26.

To insert the tubes upon or over the mandrels 21, thereis provided theramming apparatus 30 of this invention. The apparatus 30 comprises twoparallel sprockets 31A and 318 which are mounted on a drive shaft 32positioned in bearings 33 which in turn are supported by frame 34. Thesprockets are adapted to rotate in unison and are driven through shaft32 through a gear box 35 anchored to the frame '34 and By adjustment ofthe frame member 41 within a guide slot 41A by adjusting bolt 41B andthen tightening bolt 41C, it is possible to properly chains 44A and'44Bas required,

Positioned on pins 50.wh i ch. are supported between the two chains 44Aand 44B. are aplurality of fingers tension the 51. The fingers areadapted to rotate or-pivot about the point of release by the,camsurface34A move counter" clockwise when the tube is in its finalplace on the man-. drel, thus forcing the fingers inwardly.

The fingers 51 also include a pusher or ramming surface 51B which is'adapted to engage the top portion 12A of the tube to force it over themandrel 21. It should be understood that the portion 51B can take manydifferent shapes depending on the tube construction.-

In addition, the fingers l include cam follower portions or surfaces 51Cfor engaging a cam surface 34A which is positioned about the peripheryof the frame 34 itself. The cam 34A is formed by shaping the frame 34 sothat the finger will take an outward or extended position as shown atpoint 59 in the drawing.

The above mentioned extended position of the finger is accomplished byrotating the finger clockwise about pin 50. The cam 34 is also shaped at34B so that it permits the fingers 51 to be rotated counter clockwise sothat it may fall away or fall back from the tube 12 as shown in FIG. 4after the tube is placed on the mandrel.

At 58 in FIG. 1 there is diagrammatically shown a mechanism for applyinga label from a label strip as in the conventional heat transferdecorating schemes shown in the aforementioned patents. The labelcarrying strip is shown at 60 and is fed out by a plurality of rolls 61over a label preheated 62 and thence to a heated platen 63 to thelabeling station where a roller 64 presses the label against thetube'while the tube is positioned on the mandrel. Thereafter thestrip 60passes over rolls 65 and is carried away. Depending upon the tube shapeand the label size, the tube may be rotated by rotating the mandrel bymeans not shown but conventional in the art. Since the labeling stepitself forms no part of this-invention, it is recommended that theaforementioned patents be referred to, for any further description. Inaddition, post flaming can be accomplished by a nozzle 67 adapted toexpel hot air as conventional in the art. a g

In operation the cradles 11 are moved in a synchronized mannerwith thecarrier 20 and mandrels 21 and then stopped in order to permit thefinger 51 to force a tube over the mandrels. The fingers '51 aresynchronized so that they-first extend outwardly and then comedownwardlywhen positioning a tube over a mandrel. Continued downwardmovement of-thefinger forces the tube over the mandrel until the tube isplaced overthe mandrel. At this point the finger. retracts as shown inFIG. 4. Thereafter the tubes are carried alongfor labeling, andultimately expelled into the chute 25. I

The fingers 51 continue to move as described in a sequential manner aseach tube'is positioned over each mandrel to effect tube transfer.

We claim: g v V v I 1. In alabelin'g system for applying labels to tubesor the like supported upon a mandrel, said system includ ing a carrierhaving at least one mandrel positioned thereon which is adapted to carrya tube from: a feeding station to a labeling station and a supplyingmechanism for providing-a tube or the like in a supporting means intoaposition where it may be fed onto saidrnandrel, the improvementcomprising a ramming apparatus which includes a pivotal fin'gerwhich isrotatably positionable in one direction to engage the tube while in thesupporting. means and force it over the mandrel and which ispositionable to pivot in an opposite second direction after thetube isplaced on the mandrel so as to withdraw from the tube, saidfinger beingprovided with a cam follower, a cam positioned to engage the camfollower of the finger; the cam ofa shape to first rotate the finger andrigidly hold it in place to cause the finger to engage a tube held inthe supporting means and force the tube over the mandrel, said cam alsoshaped to permit the finger to rotate away from the tube after the tubeis positioned on the mandrel, and drive means to which the finger ispivotally coupled for moving said finger with respect to said cam.

2. In a labeling system according to claim 1 in which said rammingapparatus comprises a plurality of driven chains adapted forsimultaneous movement in the same direction, and pin means positionedbetween said chains on which said finger is pivotally mounted.

3. In a labeling system according to claim 2 in which resilient biasingmeans is provided for rotating said finger away from said tube.

4. In a labeling system according to claim 1 in which the finger issupported for rotation by a first pin mounted on said drive means, saidfinger having a slot, and a second pin also supported by said drivemeans and movable with said first pin, said second pin extending intosaid slot to limit the rotation of said finger.

5. In a labeling system for applying labels to tubes or the likesupported upon a mandrel, said system including a carrier having atleast one mandrel positioned thereon which is adapted to carry a tubefrom a feeding station to a labeling station and a supplyingmechanismfor providing a tube or the like ina supporting means into a positionwhere it may be fed onto said mandrel, the improvement comprising aramming apparatus which includes a pivotal finger which is rotatablypositionable in one direction to engage the tube while in the supportingmeans and force it over the mandrel and which is positionable to pivotin anopposite second direction after the tube is placed on the mandrelso'as to withdraw from the tube,

a plurality of driven chains adapted for simultaneous movement in thesame, direction, pin means positioned between said chains on which saidfinger is pivotally mounted, cam means provided to engage the finger tocause it to be positionedto engage the tube, resilient biasingmeans'provided for rotating said'finger away from said tube,-a nd inwhich the finger is provided with a; guide slot through which a secondpin coupled between the chains passes to guide the movement of thefinger. I

y s s a a e

1. In a labeling system for applying labels to tubes or the like supported upon a mandrel, said system including a carrier having at least one mandrel positioned thereon which is adapted to carry a tube from a feeding station to a labeling station and a supplying mechanism for providing a tube or the like in a supporting means into a position where it may be fed onto said mandrel, the improvement comprising a ramming apparatus which includes a pivotal finger which is rotatably positionable in one direction to engage the tube while in the supporting means and force it over the mandrel and which is positionable to pivot in an opposite second direction after the tube is placed on the mandrel so as to withdraw from the tube, said finger being provided with a cam follower, a cam positioned to engage the cam follower of the finger; the cam of a shape to first rotate the finger and rigidly hold it in place to cause the finger to engage a tube held in the supporting means and force the tube over the mandrel, said cam also shaped to permit the finger to rotate away from the tube after the tube is positioneD on the mandrel, and drive means to which the finger is pivotally coupled for moving said finger with respect to said cam.
 2. In a labeling system according to claim 1 in which said ramming apparatus comprises a plurality of driven chains adapted for simultaneous movement in the same direction, and pin means positioned between said chains on which said finger is pivotally mounted.
 3. In a labeling system according to claim 2 in which resilient biasing means is provided for rotating said finger away from said tube.
 4. In a labeling system according to claim 1 in which the finger is supported for rotation by a first pin mounted on said drive means, said finger having a slot, and a second pin also supported by said drive means and movable with said first pin, said second pin extending into said slot to limit the rotation of said finger.
 5. In a labeling system for applying labels to tubes or the like supported upon a mandrel, said system including a carrier having at least one mandrel positioned thereon which is adapted to carry a tube from a feeding station to a labeling station and a supplying mechanism for providing a tube or the like in a supporting means into a position where it may be fed onto said mandrel, the improvement comprising a ramming apparatus which includes a pivotal finger which is rotatably positionable in one direction to engage the tube while in the supporting means and force it over the mandrel and which is positionable to pivot in an opposite second direction after the tube is placed on the mandrel so as to withdraw from the tube, a plurality of driven chains adapted for simultaneous movement in the same direction, pin means positioned between said chains on which said finger is pivotally mounted, cam means provided to engage the finger to cause it to be positioned to engage the tube, resilient biasing means provided for rotating said finger away from said tube, and in which the finger is provided with a guide slot through which a second pin coupled between the chains passes to guide the movement of the finger. 